Hamilton wins as Ferrari team orders torched in Shanghai

Ferrari has come under fire and left their 21-year-old rising star seeing red after forcing him to step aside and let Sebastian Vettel past.

Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel (bottom) takes a corner ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 14, 2019. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP)

• Max’s words of warning
• Full China GP starting grid

Live F1: China Grand Prix

Welcome to our live coverage of the F1 Grand Prix in Shanghai, China.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas continued the Mercedes dominance around the Shanghai track as they recorded their third straight one-two finish to start the season.

Ferrari was once again left in the wake of its rivals and some contentious mid race decisions left the door open for Red Bull livewire Max Verstappen to split the pair.

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo drove an uneventful race to finish seventh, recording his first points since joining Renault.

6.05pm

‘Absolute rubbish’: Ferrari team orders torched

Lewis Hamilton launched off the grid and sailed past his teammate Valtteri Bottas into the lead as they made their way around the looping first turn.

The reigning F1 champion never looked back as he recorded his second straight victory and took over the top spot on the drivers standings.

Mercedes’ 2019 dominance continued as they pulled off their third straight one-two finish with Bottas crossing the line second.

An uneventful start around the opening three turns was brought to an end when Daniel Kvyat torpedoed Lando Norris after a slight oversteer. The collision cost Kvyat a drive-through penalty.

Norris gets torpedoed! Contact with Kvyat sends the McLaren man up into the air briefly, and to the back of the field. VSC out #F1 #ChineseGP

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 14, 2019

The Chinese track was supposed to play into the hands of the Ferrari’s with the long straights playing a key role.

But once the lights went out and the race got underway it was clear the gap to between to the two rivals was larger than most predicted.

Hamilton and Bottas sit well clear atop the standings with a combined 130 points to leave their rivals with serious question marks hanging overhead.

Ferrari were confronted with a dire situation early in the race when the team handed down orders to Charles Lecler to allow Sebastian Vettel past.

The news didn't sit well with the young Frenchman who argued the move didn’t make any difference as Vettel failed to pull away.

He continued to apply the blowtorch to his teammate and made sure his team knew he had the pace that was required.

Fastest in a straight line my foot! This Ferrari madness needs to stop. Can't believe Verstappen's Honda powered engine even gave us a hard time. Absolute rubbish! #ChineseGP #Race1000

— Talkative Rocker (@beewol) April 14, 2019

“Ferrari are in a world of pain at the moment, and it’s all of their own,” Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said.

Fellow commentator and 2016 F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg agreed with Brundle’s assessment the youngster had been shafted by his own team.

“They treated Leclerc too harshly,” Rosberg said.

“Now they see it makes no difference and it’s unfair on Charles. He will have a chance at the end of the race, maybe we will see action at the end.

“For Sebastian they got it right but for poor Leclerc no, let’s hope but no I think they got it wrong.

“He had the pace, he was on pace. Sebastian went by and wasn’t any quicker this is not a nice way for him to end the race today.”

I mean, I get it's early in the season but that doesn't justify @ScuderiaFerrari giving Leclerc orders to let Vettel overtake. If anything this is the time Seb should prove his skill and not ask for team handouts. #F1 #1000thGP #ChineseGP

— Sarakshi Rai (@Sarakshi) April 14, 2019

Great line from Martin Brundle: "Ferrari are playing snakes and ladders, but they're only finding snakes at the moment"

— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) April 14, 2019

Then Leclerc’s day went from bad to worse when Red Bull pulled off the successful undercut with Max Verstappen who held on to fourth place behind Vettel.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was barely sighted throughout the race as he started from and finished in seventh place, recording his first points since joining Renault.

His Renault teammate had a race to forget after being forced to retire his car less than 18 laps into the race.

But as Hamilton and his Mercedes team celebrate, Ferrari will be bunkered down as they attempt to figure out just how the gap to their rivals has become as wide as the grand canyon.

3pm

Max’s words of warning

Red Bull’s number one driver Max Verstappen isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers and now he’s dishing out words of warning.

The 21-year-old Dutchman unleashed on his fellow drivers following qualifying for the Shanghai Grand Prix after being unable to set a final lap time.

As he prepared for his last shot at improving his grid position, he was passed by Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

The moves saw Verstappen see red and explode with an expletive outburst over the team radio as the session came to an end.

When "you're just trying to be nice" and... 👀#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #Race1000 @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/mGCv0R7BUJ

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2019

After being urged to speed up by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen yelled: “They are such w***ers, honestly.

“You’re trying to be nice but everybody’s just f***ed it up.” Later, speaking to Dutch TV, Verstappen claimed drivers should not overtake one another as they gear up for their speedy laps. He also vowed to gain revenge the next time he qualifies for a race.

“We were just staying neatly behind each other, but at a certain point Vettel passed me and the two Renaults as well,” he said.

“So they f***** up my entire build up. There is an unwritten rule that you just follow each other. From now on in qualifying, I’m going to f*** them up as well.”

2.30pm

Starting grid

1) Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

2) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

3) Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6) Pierre Gasly (Red Bull)

7) Daniel Ricciardo (Renault)

8) Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)

9) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

10) Romain Grosjean (Haas)

11) Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)

12) Sergio Perez (Racing Point)

13) Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)

14) Carlos Sainz (McLaren)

15) Lando Norris (McLaren)

16) Lance Stroll (Racing Point)

17) George Russell (Williams)

18) Robert Kubica (Williams)

19) Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)

20) Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso)